Are you a city-dweller, concerned about the challenges of urbanisation, resilience and inclusiveness? Cities and urban areas represent unrivalled concentrations of people, economic growth, commercial networks, and innovation – and have the potential to make a significant contribution to the transition towards a low-carbon world.

This year's Green Growth and Sustainable Development Forum (GGSD Forum) focuses on the theme “Urban green growth, spatial planning and land-use”. Land use and spatial planning policies have implications for both the environment and the economy. Overall, consideration will be given to the potential for regional, rural and urban policy to contribute to green growth.

The OECD, the City of Paris and the Ford Foundation will host its second meeting in the fight against rising inequality in cities. The event will include sessions open to the public, drawing Mayors, business leaders, experts and policy makers, in addition to thematic workshops where our Champion Mayor will take to the stage to discuss subjects from affordable housing to integrating migrants and refugees.

Mayors and local leaders from around the world launched today a plan of action to help tackle inequality, boost job creation and harness economic development.

The Sahel and West Africa Week has become a key event for the region’s development stakeholders, fostering informal exchange, networking and partnership building. The 2016 edition of the Week takes place in Abuja, Nigeria.

On January 26th and 27th the Ministry of Regional Development of Ukraine and the OECD organised a seminar in Kiyv focusing on recent decentralisation and territorial reforms in Ukraine and in OECD countries.

Seminar on Innovations and challenges in the management of a regional policy held in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, 22 February 2017

This seminar was held in held in Lviv on 22 June 2017.

The Second International Conference on National Urban Policy was held in Paris France on 15-16 May 2017. The conference was a joint initiative of the OECD, UN Habitat and Cities Alliance.

The city of Newcastle is fast emerging as a smart, liveable and sustainable city.

This seminar series is part of the OECD project, Supporting Decentralisation in Ukraine.

The OECD LEED Trento Centre organised a working group session on "Cultural heritage as catalyst of local development " on Thursday, 22 June, 2017 - 12.30 to 15.30 in the context of ArtLab 17 in Milan.

The OECD is working with Tunisia to develop a system of subnational indicators.

This high-level meeting will be organised for the first time in the Eurasia region, in Almaty, Kazakhstan. This event creates an opportunity to further strengthen relations between the countries of the region and the OECD and serves as a platform for a discussion on a broad spectrum of thematic issues relevant to further improving the region’s competitiveness.

This OECD project on Linking indigenous communities with regional development aims to develop policy recommendations for OECD and partner countries to improve economic outcomes for indigenous communities by better linking them with regional development efforts.

This conference organised jointly by the OECD, Warwick University, the Work Foundation, and the Centre for Cities brought together stakeholders from national government departments, cities, Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) as well as business, NGOs and research institutions to discuss the key challenges facing the United Kingdom in building more and better quality jobs

Organised as part of the programme of activities of the OECD LEED Trento Centre and Venice office and LEED Forum, the capacity building seminar on Designing Strong Local Strategies for Better Jobs and Skills will offer an opportunity to learn from the latest OECD research on the key elements of successful local skills and employment strategies.

This seminar focused on the main challenges in Trentino (Italy) concerning the necessary actions to overcome existing burdens – administrative firstly but also financial and concerning business service available at local level - and to ease the start-up of new and innovative business as well as attract FDI and international business.

The Euregio Museum Day 2017 reviewed the pilot version of the OECD guide "Culture and local development - Maximising the impact" and worked on thematic action principles and policy options to advance the reflection on these issues.

Action to prevent the risk of major flooding in Paris and the Ile de France region has improved in recent years – particularly after the Seine burst its banks in May and June 2016 – but urban and territorial planning needs to be better adapted, governance strengthened and long-term funding clarified, according to the OECD.

The OECD LEED Trento Centre is working with Italy and the Autonomous Province of Trento to strengthen capacities to develop and implement integrated strategies targeted at improving the quality of life and well-being of people and reversing demographic trends in ‘inner areas’ (sparsely populated areas and stranded communities isolated from large and medium-sized urban centres).

The OECD Trento Centre is undertaking a review (2017/2018) to identify the needs and priorities for policy improvement and to foster the exchange of experiences, the capitalisation of acquired know-how and the generation of new and fresh thinking in the Adriatic-Ionian macro-region.

In advance of the 2024 Paris Olympics, OECD ministers have agreed the first international framework to help design and manage major events in order to maximise their potential to create jobs, boost local development and generate long-term benefits for citizens and the environment.

The OECD Trento Centre organised five sessions within the 2018 Festival of Economics on Technology and Jobs on 1-3 June 2018. OECD and intenational experts along with high level government representatives discussed the impact of new technologies on jobs and its effect on local economies and policies and what regions and regional policy can do to narrow economic gaps and promote productivity catching-up.

The Summer Academy, a three-year project 2018-2020, provides training for policy makers and representatives of cultural and creative industries (CCIs). The first edition will take place 11-15 June 2018 in Trento and Bolzano, Italy. The final conference on Friday 15 June is open to local as well as to national and international stakeholders interested in the event themes, upon registration.

Cultural and Creative Industries (CCIs) play an important role in the economic, social and urban development of cities and regions and are also a powerful engine for innovation and competitiveness. T‌he conference represents the closure of the 1st Summer Academy on Cultural and Creative Industries and Local Development.

The OECD Trento Centre and the Venice office are pleased to announce a call for internship applications. Deadline for applications: Sunday, 19th August 2018 at 23.59 (Italian time).

The School is organising specialised courses on socio-economic development and creating an international platform to exchange experiences and knowledge between public officers and practitioners from OECD member and non member countries that deals with cooperation and local development issues.

The OECD is implementing a project to develop recommendations for improving regional development outcomes for regions and cities specialised in mining and extractive industries. The first OECD meeting on Mining Regions was held in Antofagasta, Chile in October 2017. The Second meeting will take place in Darwin Australia on 20-24 November 2018.

For the past 20 years, Brett Kaufman has developed over $1 billion in real estate projects focused on enhancing the human experience.

The co-founder and CEO of LeagueSide talks about how his company is helping to strengthen youth sports communities in a creative way.

Shift your thoughts so you can move into the future with more clarity, confidence and control.

Qantas has confirmed it will stop printing out Frequent Flyer numbers on boarding passes 'over the next few weeks'. In the social media age, hackers are selling Frequent Flyer points on the black market.

The Veronicas have reignited their feud with Qantas after claiming they were unfairly removed from a flight last month.

Qantas CEO Alan Joyce has been blasted for hypocrisy, having been outspoken on some social issues while helping the Australian government deport asylum seekers. 

Qantas and University of Sydney fatigue specialists from the Charles Perkins Centre have released their findings into how passengers cope with long, overseas flights.

Qantas Flight 7879 took off from New York's John F. Kennedy at 9.27pm on Saturday with 50 passengers and crew on board. The flight took nineteen hours and sixteen minutes.

Non-stop 19-hour commercial flights from New York to Sydney could be available to passengers in economy class by 2023, with the only added benefit of slightly more legroom and a place to stretch.

Default offer laws in Victoria - which mean providers must tell customers if they can get cheaper energy - have seen power bills plummet.

Jess and Lisa Origliasso have revealed that they thought they were the subject of a prank when they were removed from a Qantas flight last month.

The Australian airline's new scheme launched on Tuesday will give customers 20,000 points for signing up as well as 6,000 extra points every time members have their cars serviced.

A Jetstar pilot flying internationally from Australia says the $24 million salary of Qantas boss Alan Joyce makes his 'blood boil'. 

The cracks were discovered on the 'pickle fork' of a Boeing 737 - the part attaches the body to the wing. Australian airline Qantas vowed to check 33 planes.

The Australian airline began immediate checks on 33 planes after a crack was found during routine maintenance checks on Wednesday.

A worker at the Sydney Airport almost lost an eye after a peregrine falcon gouged at his eyes while he was completing duties inside of a Qantas engineering hangar.

Qantas has grounded three Boeing 737 jets after cracks were found in the part of the aircraft connecting the wings with the body. Maintenance engineers want the entire fleet grounded.

The pair were surrounded by 120 members of family, friends and high profile business people at the ceremony which took place at Sydney's Museum of Contemporary Art.

The Veronicas have once again spoken on their feud with Qantas and claim they are still confused at why the experience took place.

One in four Qantas flight attendants have experienced sexual harassment by either a colleague or a passenger in the past year, a survey has revealed.   

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce, who makes nearly $24million a year and is the highest-paid CEO in Australia, confirmed the company needed to cut its $4.3billion wage bill.